Avila Suffocates OKWU to Start Off 2024

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Avila women's basketball team (4-9, 3-4 KCAC) was in lockdown mode to kick off the second half of the 2023-24 campaign, holding Oklahoma Wesleyan (2-9, 1-6 KCAC) without a field goal for the entire second quarter on the way to a suffocating 54-42 victory on Wednesday night in Mabee Fieldhouse.

The first KCAC women's basketball Battle of the Eagles in the 2023-24 was a defensive showcase for almost the whole game: Avila held OKWU to 27% shooting from the field and just 10% shooting from beyond the arc (3-of-29), powered by ten steals and five blocks. Avila held sharpshooter Gracie Alexander to 1-of-11 shooting from downtown, while veteran guard Ty'Najah Mitchell finished 0-for-11 from the field in the game.

The visiting Eagles actually recorded more steals and fewer turnovers in the game, but the homestanding Eagles shot the ball much better, won the rebounding battle by 19, and led for the entire game, building a lead as large as 23 points midway through the fourth quarter. Avila's standout stretch came in the second quarter, where Oklahoma Wesleyan was shut out from making a shot – 0-of-9 from the field as a team – and was almost completely held off the scoreboard entirely: two Katelyn Penner free throws in the final minute of the period spoiled Avila's chances of pitching the extremely rare shutout.

Still, it's not very common that a team withstands an entire 10-minute period without giving up a single field goal – but it's actually the second time in 12 months that Remy Wolfe's team has accomplished that feat. Avila allowed single-digit points in a quarter more than half a dozen times in January of 2022, but last season, Wolfe's first as head coach, the Eagles also prevented Friends from making a field goal in an infamous 48-38 slugfest in Mabee Fieldhouse in January of 2023. That also occurred in the second quarter of that game, and the Falcons managed to score four points despite not making a shot from the field – OKWU's two points are the fewest an Avila women's basketball team has allowed in a quarter in recent team history.

That Friends game last season had a little bit of drama in it, but this game really never did. Oklahoma Wesleyan's Alexander misfired on the first shot attempt of the game – a harbinger of what was to come, it would turn out – and though OKWU got the offensive rebound and a second chance to score, Kathleen Stanley got a steal, Marlie Wright got out in transition, and Hannah Smith got cooking early with a three-pointer 30 seconds in to give Avila the early lead, and the team never gave the advantage up.

Even with OKWU's offense in neutral for much of the first three quarters, Avila only truly pulled away in the later stages of the game thanks to another big showing from Madilyn Melton. Avila's halftime lead was just ten, and the Eagles expanded that edge to 39-23 after three thanks to a late second-chance bucket from Melton in the final seconds of the quarter. Buckets from Melton and Hannah Pinkston – both keyed by Melton rebounds – stretched Avila's lead to 20 less than two minutes into the fourth before Melton reeled off five straight points to give the Eagles their largest lead of the night, 48-25, with 6:38 left in regulation.

Oklahoma Wesleyan finally hit some shots and pushed back in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to make things look closer, but the visitors never got back to within single digits and a layup from Eireon Adams with two minutes to go stamped out the OKWU fire for good as Avila coasted to a 54-42 victory to kick off 2024.

Alexander paced OKWU with 15 points, though she needed 21 field goal attempts to get there. Smith led the Eagles in scoring for the second straight game with 14 points on four made threes, and Melton turned in an excellent all-around outing with 11 points, a season-high 17 rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Up next, Avila women's basketball will play its first road game of the new year this Saturday, January 6 when the Eagles travel to North Newton, Kansas to take on Bethel. The women tip off the doubleheader at 2 PM with the men to follow at 4; as always, you can watch all the action live on the KCAC Network.